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Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Paradise Regained?

I remember the Paradise Bar on the New Cross Road. Not as well as I should, the last time I was there I was sliding down the wall at an Angular Records event to the tune of the Long Blondes and the Fucks. The Rocklands Tuesday night club Pop of the Tops was a genuine showcase for up and coming bands that also happened to have cheap beer and a smiley crowd.

Then the neighbours complained about the noise, the place closed down and re-opened without its music licence so it could still stay open until 4am and play records as loud as it fancied but no live music was allowed which was a bit of a kick in the teeth all round.

But the DIY culture is like moss: green, furry life growing on the greyest of places and now Minxy, head pixie at Rocklands, forwarded this our way:

“Pass it on friends! Only just got this!

PARADISE BAR MEETING WEDNESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 7PM GO AND GET YOURSELVES A TOP QUALITY VENUE I catch the bus outside the Paradise Bar, and it's out on the road pick-up / drop off / meeting point and I have never noticed this sign.
It obviously wasn't meant to be read, so hats off to Gus for having a sharp eye

I believe that the new management want to be on the side of the alternative community, so it could be good news..”

Sharp-eyed Gus reports:
“I was just walking past the Paradise t'other day, when I noticed a small sign on the wall outside. I went up and had a look, and lo, the new management are holding a public meeting about the future of the place. Now, I may be a cynical old git, but it reminded me of the similar tactics the council employs when they want to knock down a nursery and sell the land to Tesco - I believe they're legally bound to inform the public of the development, and so a small sign on a lamp-post and some small print in the local newspaper tends to suffice as their 'public announcement'. The fact that one has to get up on the step and stand a few inches from the sign to read it may mean that the new management don't really want 'the public' to attend...
But as I say, I could just be talking out of my arse. Anyway, the meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday, 10th of November 2004) at 7pm, presumably within the Bar itself. I thought you might like to know.
Don't let them turn it into another swanky 'plonk lounge' - we need all the live music venues we can get!”

2 comments:

There were some great nights out at the Paradise Bar in the months before it closed, especially Pop of the Tops and the Angular events - performances by Art Brut and the Swear standing out for me. Going back a bit there was Joe Egg's regular camp popfest 'je suis music' and his one off '200 troubled teenagers' in 1999, an evening dedicated to Belle & Sebastian. It was the most packed I've ever seen it.

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